CPPAWA Conference 2019

The annual CPPAWA Conference was held at the Joondalup Resort and Country Club from Tuesday 30 July to Thursday 1 August. It provided us the perfect opportunity to have time together to share new learnings as well as participate in networking and wellbeing opportunities. To extend the learning opportunities for all leadership teams, the Assistant Principals were invited to the first day of the conference as we believe in sharing these professional learning opportunities so as to enable change within schools where the Principal is not the sole driver.

This year’s theme was “Setting the Agenda” and we had two world class presenters. The first Keynote Speaker was Dr Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, who gave an outstanding presentation on the Neuroscience of Learning and designing educational experiences. Tracey runs an online course at Harvard University each year entitled, “The Neuroscience of Learning: An Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health and Education”. Some points that Tracy shared on what scientists know about the brain and learning are:

• The person who does the work is the person who does the learning
• The brain is rather social, most of us learn in groups
• We know ourselves better by knowing others
• All learning occurs through your senses
• There is no learning without emotions – a child who is anxious, stressed and/or depressed will not learn

Her session on how the brain works and long held myths/beliefs was very interesting.

1. Human brains are as unique as human faces – TRUE (how does this knowledge impact our teaching?)
2. All brains are equally prepared for all tasks – FALSE (differentiation is the key)
3. The brain changes constantly with experience – TRUE (are we providing enough opportunity/time for rehearsal for all students in class, even those with little prior knowledge?)
4. The brain is highly plastic – TRUE (children who believed their intelligence could be developed outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed)

Further information on Tracey’s work can be found on www.thelearningsciences.com

PICTURE: Sitting down: (Tracy Arnold (Executive Officer of CPPA), CPPA Executive Members – Sandro Coniglio, Mark Powell (President), Art Lombardi. Back Row: Laurie Bechelli (Conference Organiser), Dr Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa.

Wednesday 31 July commenced with a beautiful Mass celebrated by Bishop Don Sproxton. Following the service, Bishop Don discussed some of the big issues currently facing the Church, and what he believed was the best way forward. The rest of the day was spent discussing CPPA issues, networking and taking part in wellbeing activities.

On Thursday 1 August, Dave Faulkner and Aaron Tait from Education Changemakers presented three lively, engaging and challenging sessions entitled “MBA in a Day” which looked at the future of education, dealing with change and working with challenging members of staff. If you would like to learn more about Education Changemakers, please go to their website www.educationchangemakers.com

‘The illiterate of the 21^st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn’. Alvin Toffler (He predicted the rise of personal computers, the internet, cable TV and cloning).

The CPPA 2019 Conference challenged our thinking and exposed us to the latest research on learning, the brain and how to go about having the courage to initiate and deliver change in our schools. These days where we come together as a body of professionals assists us to collaborate and learn whilst building support networks to help us through changing and challenging times.

Laurie Bechelli

Principal – Mary MacKillop Catholic Community Primary School, Ballajurra

CPPA Executive Member (Conference Organiser)